Quarantine
Quarantine is the fifth episode of TUGS. Plot It is the year of the big heat wave. Many incoming vessels have sickness aboard, and must fly a yellow flag to show they need to have a medical examination to determine whether or not their sickness is contagious. If their disease is infectious, they must anchor away from port and fly the chequered flag to show they are under quarantine for the compulsory 40 days, and warning no-one to go near, for fear of being infected. Burke and Blair, a pair of evil minded scrap-dealing tugs who sport bowler hats, have their eyes on O.J. whose engine has been acting up lately. They have already made Captain Star an offer for him, but he has refused. Ten Cents and Sunshine arrive at The Star Pier, late for the briefing. Captain Star threatens to scrap them- though probably not seriously- and informs them that Ten Cents was supposed to collect a fire barge from the station across the harbour, and that O.J. is already taking care of it. Ten Cents is sent to help him while Sunshine has to bring in a tramper called Nantucket (a.k.a. Old Dirt Bucket). If O.J. is all right, Ten Cents and Sunshine are then to join the others, ready to take away vessels cleared from quarantine. Meanwhile, O.J., on his way to the ferry pier with the barge, is watched by Burke and Blair. The two scrap dealers delight at the sound of his choking engine. At the same time, the Fultan Ferry follows an intersecting path, on a regular delivery. O.J. suddenly spots a motorboat rapidly approaching him from the distant harbour entrance. At first, he thinks nothing of it, then it is right on top of him. O.J. reverses out of the way just in time, but his faulty engine spins him, swinging his barge into the Fultan Ferry. The ferry now has a large hole in her hull, causing her to sink. Ten Cents, on his way out to meet O.J., sees the situation and tries to save the Fultan Ferry with a tow-line. But he is forced to cut the rope, and the ferry sinks to the bottom. Sunshine arrives, not too far behind Ten Cents, and is sent to get the emergency services. At the Star Pier, Burke and Blair make a second attempt to purchase O.J. The captain refuses. Back at the scene of the Fultan Ferry, the Fire Chief arrives and cranes are put into position to raise the sunken ferry. Zorran and Zug arrive to blame O.J. for the accident and gloatingly express their delight that there will be fewer Star Tugs available for quarantine work. When Ten Cents and O.J. arrive at the mouth of the harbour, they find Top Hat and the two Z-Stacks still waiting. The Coast Guard informs the tugs that the schooners are quarantined, as they may carry Microbonic Plague. Ten Cents is surprised when Zorran sends Zug packing and says that he himself will go further out. Ten Cents, knowing Zorran, suspects foul-play. Sunshine is out of port, looking for Nantucket, when he spots the tramper (flying a yellow flag); he makes sure not to go too close. The tramper lowers its flag. As Sunshine moves closer, Nantucket asks Sunshine to give him a tow. With no customs boat in sight, Sunshine hurries away, not wanting to risk being infected. Zorran sees Sunshine on his way out and asks what he is doing. Sunshine refuses to tell him, but Zorran won't let him off the hook. Ten Cents and O.J. quickly come to Sunshine's aid. Sunshine explains that the tramper's yellow flag was pulled down. Zorran thinks the tramper has been cleared, and tries to seize upon this "golden opportunity" by simply rushing out to the tramper immediately. Ten Cents gives chase, determined to beat Zorran to it. O.J. follows Ten Cents (doing considerable damage to his engine in the process), and stops him. He is certain the tramper is either waiting for examination or to be quarantined. Burke and Blair briefly pass, but no-one pays them any attention. O.J. brushes off the two switchers' concern for his burnt-out engine, telling them that they both could have been quarantined. Zorran triumphantly reaches Nantucket, while Ten Cents and Sunshine tow O.J. back to the Star Pier. The switchers try to explain to Captain Star what happened when Burke and Blair show up yet again and make their final offer for O.J. Initially it looks as if Captain Star might finally give in, but then he hears that O.J. saved Ten Cents from quarantine, and instead angrily sends the scrap-dealers packing, and tells Ten Cents to take him to Lucky’s Yard for a new engine. Back at the Quarantine zone, the Coast Guard arrives and orders both Zorran and Nantucket to put up quarantine flags. Burke and Blair pass Zorran and snigger at his dilemma. Zorran ends up quarantined alongside Nantucket for a full 40 days. Characters *Ten Cents *O.J. *Top Hat *Sunshine *Grampus *Zorran *Zug *Fire Tug *Coast Guard *Burke and Blair *Mighty Mo *Nantucket *Captain Star *Fultan Ferry (does not speak) * Schooners (do not speak) *Coast Guard's Messenger (not named, does not speak) * The Shrimpers (cameos) *Big Mickey (cameo) *Izzy Gomez (cameo) *Johnny Cuba (faceless, cameo) *Zip (cameo) *Warrior (cameo) *Captain Zero (cameo) *Scuttlebutt Pete (cameo) *Diesel Tugboat (cameo) * Port Authority (mentioned) Trivia *This is the only episode in which the Fultan Ferry has a main role. It makes cameos in other episodes. * This episode marks the first and only speaking roles of Burke, Blair and Nantucket. * This episode was later written into a story for the TUGS 1990 Annual. * This is the only time Big Mac does not appear in an episode. * Nothing is said about the people aboard the Fultan Ferry. It can be assumed that there were fatalities, mainly from drowning, and also an explosion from the smokestack, suggesting a few more deaths in the engine room. * Stock footage from Jinxed is used. * This is the second episode to feature underwater footage. Pirate was the first (although it was too dark to see). * Top Hat mentions Sir Francis Drake, an English sea captain who defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. * Although this episode doesn't have a photo book version, several shots were included on the front and back covers of British and Japanese VHS releases, and one was included on a magazine cover. *The Japanese title of this episode is called "O.J.'s Clunking Engine". *This is the third episode not feature Hercules. *This is the first episode not to feature Zak. *This is the second episode not to feature Zebedee. Goofs *When Grampus is looking at the ferry underwater, the lifeboats appear to be still attached to the ferry. *Sunshine bears a dangling fender during the scene where Zorran and Zug comment on O.J.'s accident. *When Grampus resurfaces, O.J. has disappeared and reappears in the next shot. *The back cover of the single Japanese VHS release features a photo from Trapped, but that episode is not included. * When Blair explain that O.J. is on the top of their scrap list, Sunshine is seen pulling a crane in the background but in the next scene, the crane behind Sunshine is gone and the Fire Tug is beside him. * When the motor boat races towards O.J., it is at open sea but when it almost crashed into O.J., it is in the harbour. However, when the motor boat races away from O.J., it is back at open sea again. Gallery Tugs vhs.jpg|UK VHS cover Image:Alt Playbox Upriver VHS Cover.jpg|Playbox VHS cover Quarantine-UpRiver-JinxedVHS.JPG|UK tape Jinxed au.jpg|Australian VHS cover jinxed tape.jpg|Australian tape jinxed tape front.jpg|Australian tape front Image:Upriver Finnish.jpg|Finnish VHS cover Image:TUGS Japan 3.jpg|Japanese VHS cover TugsBumperTape3.png|High Tide/Quarantine/Ghosts Japanese VHS Cover QuarantineTitleCard.jpg|Title Card Quarantine6.png PAL Pic 1.jpg Quarantine7.png Quarantine Burke and Blair.jpg|Deleted Shot Quarantine9.png Quarantine12.png Quarantine11.png Quarantine10.png Quarantine13.png File:FireDock1.png Quarantine15.png FultanFerry480.jpg Fultan576PAL.jpg Other Cranes.jpg|The ferry terminal Quarantine16.png Quarantine17.png Quarantine18.png Quarantine19.png Quarantine20.png Quarantine21.png Quarantine22.png Quarantine23.png Quarantine24.png Quarantine25.png Quarantine26.png Quarantine27.png|O.J.'s barge hits the Ferry. Quarantine28.png Fire Barges.jpg Fultan Ferry.jpg|Fultan Ferry sinking Old Jones.jpg Quarantine29.png Quarantine30.png Quarantine31.png Quarantine32.png NTSC Picture 1.JPG Quarantine33.png Quarantine34.png|The Fultan Ferry underwater Quarantine35.png Quarantine36.png Quarantine37.png Burke & Blair.jpg|Burke and Blair Quarantine38.png Fire Tug.jpg|The Fire Tug Quarantine.JPG Quarantine2.JPG|Grampus spits some water Grampus3.JPG Quarantine39.png Quarantine40.png Quarantine41.png|Sunshine bears a dangling fender Quarantine42.png Quarantine43.png Quarantine44.png Quarantine45.png ZorranZedStack.png Quarantine46.png Quarantine47.png Quarantine48.png Quarantine49.png Quarantine50.png Quarantine51.png Quarantine52.png Quarantine54.png Quarantine55.png Quarantine56.png Quarantine57.png Quarantine58.png Quarantine59.png Quarantine60.png Quarantine61.png Quarantine62.png Quarantine63.png Quarantine64.png Quarantine65.png Quarantine66.png Quarantine67.png Quarantine68.png Quarantine69.png Quarantine70.png Quarantine71.png Quarantine72.png Quarantine73.png Quarantine74.png Quarantine75.png Quarantine76.png Quarantine77.png Quarantine78.png Quarantine79.png Quarantine80.png NantucketHeader.png|Nantucket Quarantine81.png Quarantine82.png Quarantine83.png Quarantine84.png Quarantine85.png Quarantine86.png Quarantine87.png Quarantine88.png Quarantine89.png Quarantine90.png Quarantine91.png Quarantine92.png Quarantine93.png Quarantine94.png Quarantine95.png Quarantine96.png Quarantine97.png Quarantine98.png Quarantine99.png Quarantine100.png Quarantine101.png Quarantine102.png Quarantine103.png Quarantine104.png Quarantine105.png AnnoyedTenCents3.JPG Quarantine106.png Quarantine107.png Quarantine108.png Quarantine109.png Quarantine110.png Quarantine111.png Quarantine112.png Burke.png|Burke Blair.png|Blair Quarantine113.png Quarantine114.png Quarantine115.png Quarantine116.png Quarantine117.png Quarantine118.png Quarantine119.png Quarantine120.png Quarantine121.png Quarantine122.png Quarantine123.png Quarantine124.png Quarantine125.png Quarantine126.png Quarantine127.png Quarantine128.png Quarantine129.png Quarantine130.png BurkeQuarantine.jpg BlairQuarantine.jpg Model Boats 1.jpg|A deleted scene shown on the cover of a boats magazine Episode External links *